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Devolution and the Trades Union Congress in the North East Region

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Devolution and the Trades Union Congress in the North East Region Devolution and the Trades Union Congress in the North East region of England and Wales [12,901] Draft Paper for the ‘Economic and Social Partners and devolved government’ Session, Regional Studies Association Conference ‘Economic Governance Post-Devolution: Differentiation or Convergence?’, London, 21 November 2003 Andy Pike, Peter O’Brien and John Tomaney Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) University of Newcastle Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU UK Tel. +44(0)191 222 8011 Fax. +44 (0)191 232 9259 e-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/curds H:\lucy\papers\DRAFT-2.DOC 1 ABSTRACT From a position of relative isolation, trade unions have become increasingly important agents in sub-national and regional development and governance in the UK since the election of the New Labour government in 1997. Comparative analysis of the experience of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the North East of England and Wales suggests that devolution and regionalisation are exerting increasing pressures upon such trade union federations to adopt a multi-level approach to organisation across a range of scales – local, sub-regional, regional, sub-national, national and international – in order to connect with the evolving multi-layered governance structures of the UK political economy. Strategic multi-level organisation suggests the decentralisation of power, authority and resources within the labour movement – challenging the national and centralised legacy of its collective bargaining history – to build the links between engagement in devolved governance and trade union renewal. Our argument is that devolved governance has re- shaped existing and opened up new channels for the engagement of trade union federations, to a degree reproducing many of the central issues of class logics of collective action for labour beyond the employment relation and the workplace into the realm of devolved economic and social governance. H:\lucy\papers\DRAFT-2.DOC 2 INTRODUCTION We have union influence in the political sphere — not just at Westminster, but the devolved administrations too. Devolution and reforms to deepen democracy may not make newspaper headlines but, the fact is, Westminster no longer monopolises the political universe. Slowly but surely a new political culture is emerging in the UK, offering new opportunities for the TUC and unions to get the voice of working people heard. The new political culture looks and feels very different … It provides a different quality of representation, often more open and accessible; perhaps less burdened by tradition, pomp and ceremony. While far from perfect, the Scottish Parliament, the Wales Assembly and — soon, I believe, regional assemblies — are able to reach parts of the people that ‘London’ has failed to reach” (Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, City University Vice Chancellor’s Lecture, 10 June 2003). Devolution and regionalisation are beginning to find a place, albeit somewhat limited and tenuous as yet, in trade union strategic development. Emergent views are beginning to see that the cause of trade union renewal may be furthered by ‘looking beyond the factory gates’ to build progressive alliances for economic and social justice with local and regional interests (Wills, 2001). Newly elected Trades Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Brendan Barber’s comments on the future of trade unions are suggestive of the potential for trade unions, trade union federations – such as the TUC – and the broader labour movement of engagement in devolved governance. This H:\lucy\papers\DRAFT-2.DOC 3 new found attention to the role of trade union interests in sub-national and regional economic and social development and governance flows from the broader feeling that trade unions have been ‘coming in from the cold’ (CLES 1999; Heselden 2001) at the UK national level following the election of New Labour’s first administration in 1997. This renewed relevancy for trade union interests is supported by broadly based international evidence — including The World Bank (Aidt and Tzannatos 2002) — suggesting that high levels of unionisation can promote rather than inhibit regional and national economic prosperity and the social and territorial equity of growth through positive contributions to skills development, employee involvement and workplace productivity (Dunlop 1994; CEC 1996; Etherington 1997; O'Grady 1997). Although issues of collective interest representation and their inter-relation with the broader labour movement need attention (Pike, O'Brien and Tomaney 2002), trades unions have a central role to play in territorial development and governance in at least four closely related ways. First, by gaining credibility and demonstrating their participation through the delivery of government policy objectives (e.g. learning and skills, workplace social partnership, productivity) (Manning 2002). Second, by broadening the issues addressed in mainstream debate (e.g. equalities, diversity) and underpinning the balance required between economic, social and environmental priorities characteristic of the ‘New Centrism’ in economic development policy (Geddes and Newman 1999). Third, by providing the focus for debate around more localised and welfarist alternatives to the “narrow optic of ‘globalisation-competitiveness’” (Lovering H:\lucy\papers\DRAFT-2.DOC 4 2001): 352) that currently dominates the territorial development agenda (e.g. alternatives to public-private partnerships, contracting-out) (Foley 2002; Wainwright 2003). And, fourth, by providing a means for other relatively marginalised actors in local and regional civil society (e.g. the voluntary and community sector) to mobilise around a socially just and broadly progressive agenda. This trade unionism beyond the workplace suggests the need for this to develop into more inclusive ‘soc movements’ rather than narrowly labourist guardians of work place and member interests. For trade union renewal, it is argued that both within and beyond the workplace, trade unions may: “…achieve the political cachet and social respect - as carriers of the ‘general interest’ - needed to secure supports for their own organisation” (Rogers 1995): 368). The emergent role for trade union interests in devolved economic and social development and governance beyond — but still crucially relevant to — the employment relation and the workplace raises significant challenges: …unions in many countries today are faced with new, more divergent, more specialized and more ‘qualitative’ demands by their members and clients. This is reflected in growing pressures to participate in production- and supply-related policy areas which are difficult to conceive in terms of traditional, labor-market and distribution-centred trade union ideology (Streeck 1992): 100). Wolfgang Streeck goes on to argue that when large and encompassing trade union organisations – like federations such as the TUC - are brought into production politics, for example industrial policy: “they usually perform poorly, H:\lucy\papers\DRAFT-2.DOC 5 not least reason being that they find it difficult to deal with the internal divisions of interest among their members that immediately emerge on such occasions” (Streeck 1992: 98). The aim of this paper is therefore twofold. First, to examine how relatively large and encompassing trade union organisations – the respective sub- national and regional TUC’s in Wales and the North East of England – are dealing with devolution and regionalisation in their respective territories. Second, to explore the extent to which the central issues of class logics of collective action for labour are being reproduced beyond the employment relation and the workplace in the realm of devolved economic and social development and governance. Little research has been undertaken on the TUC in recent years (Heery 1998), with most work focused on the national level (Taylor 2000). Our analysis builds on Martin, Sunley and Wills’ (1996) notion of ‘institutional spaces’ by incorporating and extending Streeck’s (1992) analysis of class logics of collective action to understand some of the specific and particular tensions facing organised labour in the context of the ‘new institutional space’ opening up at the sub-national and regional levels in the UK. Comparative analysis of the experience of the Trades Union Congress in the North East of England and Wales suggests that devolution and regionalisation are exerting increasing pressures upon trade union federations to adopt a multi-level approach to organisation across a range of scales – local, sub- regional, regional, sub-national, national and international (especially the EU) H:\lucy\papers\DRAFT-2.DOC 6 – in order to connect with the evolving multi-layered governance structures of the UK political economy. Strategic multi-level organisation suggests the decentralisation of power, authority and resources within the labour movement – challenging the national and centralised legacy of its collective bargaining history – to build the links between engagement in devolved governance and trade union renewal. For the Northern TUC, engagement has yielded an inconclusive mix of meaningful contributions alongside somewhat indirect, diffuse influence and areas of continuing marginalisation. The WTUC’s role in the new governance of Wales has been embedded legislatively and through formal agreement with the WAG, new institutions and multiple, supported channels of engagement have been established and a growing degree of substantive influence is being exerted
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